Tourism Northern Ireland, the official tourism authority for Northern Ireland, has announced plans to appoint an agency or agencies for the supply of services including strategic planning, media buying and creative.
The total value of the contract is estimated at up to £35m (€41.4m) and will run for two years initially, with the option to extend for three further periods of one year, up to a maximum duration of five years.
Northern Ireland has achieved record numbers of visitors in recent years. The latest data indicates that Northern Ireland welcomed 5.4m overnight visitors in 2023, who stayed 16.6m nights and spent £1.2bn.
Of this, 1.3m overnight trips were taken by visitors from the Republic of Ireland in 2023, up 46% compared to 2022. These trips translated into almost 3m overnight stays and a spend of more than £267m, an increase of 48% on 2022.
Trips taken by Northern Ireland residents accounted for the highest proportion of overall trips at 40%, highlighting the continued importance of the domestic tourism market.
Tourism Northern Ireland, which has played a lead role in stimulating this growth, promotes Northern Ireland as a tourism destination to residents within the island of Ireland and works closely with Tourism Ireland to promote the destination internationally.
Naomi Waite, Director of Marketing at Tourism Northern Ireland, said: ‘Tourism to Northern Ireland is doing well. But there is much more still to be done. This is your opportunity to position Northern Ireland as an exciting and dynamic visitor destination.’
Tourism Northern Ireland will be hosting Market Engagement Days at its offices in Belfast (Tuesday 10th September) and Dublin (Thursday 12th September) for agencies interested in finding out more about the forthcoming procurement.
The procurement will be managed by Northern Ireland’s Construction Procurement Delivery (CPD).
Agencies interested in attending the Market Engagement Days are asked to email ssdadmin.cpd@finance-ni.gov.uk by 5pm on Monday 9th September.
Tourism Northern Ireland has also advised that appointments will be scheduled on a first come basis and will last a maximum of 45 minutes. A maximum of 3 people per agency should attend the meeting.
Tourism Northern Ireland’s addresses in Belfast and Dublin are as follows: Linum Chambers, Bedford Street, Belfast, BT2 7ES and Riverview House, 21-23 City Quay, Dublin 2, D02 AY91.
